


Face to FaceTime

by Love_the_little_wonders



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste Needs a Hug, Adrinette, Adrinette-freeform, Anansi - Freeform, Budding Love, Episode: s02 Gorizilla, F/M, Feel-good, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Romance, Season 2 compliant, midnight chats, pre-anansi, season 2 slight spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-13
Updated: 2018-09-13
Packaged: 2019-07-11 19:06:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15978563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Love_the_little_wonders/pseuds/Love_the_little_wonders
Summary: Tired of being isolated, Adrien reaches out to his friend in hopes of finding some comfort late at night. Adrinette <3





	Face to FaceTime

 

The sound of loud rumbling thunder fills the emptiness of his expansive bedroom. Adrien blows against his windowpane and draws a frowny face on the glass. Once again, his father confined Adrien to his room. He hasn’t seen his friends in what felt like forever. Normally, he’d use his isolation as a chance to escape as Chat Noir but with the storm raging outside, transforming was out of the question. Adrien looked to his small kwami and found him sleeping on top of a round of cheese.

 

Typical.

 

Adrien looked at the clock on his phone and it read 11:56 PM. He knew it was late but he decided to try to call Nino on FaceTime. Adrien stares at Nino’s smiling picture and it stares back at him as his phone rings and rings but Nino doesn’t answer.

 

Dejected, Adrien drags his feet as he shuffles towards his bed and with an ungraceful flop lays atop the blankets staring blankly at the ceiling. How many times has he looked up at this very ceiling and stared at the bleak nothingness that the white paint gives off?  Rolling over, Adrien looks over to his nightstand and sees his Marinette lucky charm. He grabs it and holds it over his head as he looks at it. Boy does he feel unlucky right about now. Rolling the bead between his fingers, an idea pops into his head. He recalls Alya berating Marinette on several occasions for staying up so late working on her designs. Maybe the designer is still up. It is Saturday night. Plus, after the events with Gorizilla a month back, they exchanged numbers and have texted on and off since. Staring at her contact picture, Adrien decides to call her. Pressing the FaceTime icon, Adrien waits for her to answer, the rings echoing loudly in his empty room.

* * *

 

The vibration of her phone wakes Marinette up from her impromptu nap at her sewing desk. Her hair is disheveled and she has scraps of fabric and loose thread stuck to her face. She answers the call without looking at who called her. She hears his voice before she can make out his face through her groggy eyes.

 

“Hey Marinette”

 

That woke her up. Marinette rubs away any leftover bleariness from her eyes and accidentally knocks her phone on the floor. She fumbles to get a firm grasp on it and promptly bumps her head on the underside of her desk.

 

“Ouuuch! A-Adrien calling me late ?! What are you calling at late- um I mean I mean it's uh kinda late aaand you're calling me?” She winced at her poor communication skills with her crush as she rubbed her head.

 

“Is it alright that I called you? I know it's kind of late…it's just my dad wouldn't let me leave the house again and with all of my photo shoots this week I missed school and I still had my extracurriculars. It feels like I haven't seen you guys in ages” His voice cracked from the emotion he was trying to suppress. “I really miss my friends and I miss hanging out with you, Nino, and Alya, y'know?”

 

This was a lot to process at 12 in the morning for a short-circuiting Marinette. Adrien Agreste considers her a close friend and specifically said he missed _her_ . Well, her and his other friends, but still!! He called _her!_ Marinette wanted nothing more than to freak out but she needed to keep it together for Adrien’s sake.

 

“ _He’s feeling lonely and really needs a friend right now and that's what I’m gonna be_ ,” she thinks to herself as she slaps her face between her palms, “ _I can do this!_ ”

 

Adrien quirks an eyebrow at her antics but chalks it up to Marinette being Marinette.

 

“Y-yeah you can call me whenever you like! Just not like you know 4 in the morning or something or if I’m helping in the bakery or showering I won’t be able to answer…” Marinette’s eyes bugged once she realized what she just said. Embarrassment tinged her face and ears.

 

“Really?! That really means a lot to me, Marinette! Thanks!” He was relieved to know that he wasn’t bothering her and that she didn’t mind talking to him this late at night.

 

“You mean a lot to me” Marinette sighed.

 

“What was that?” Adrien asked.

 

“Oh uh um well I said...” Marinette was floundering. Did she just partly confess to her crush over FaceTime?! Should she hang up and pretend this never happened?

 

“ _No!! Adrien called because he needs a friend!_ ” she reminded herself. With a deep breath, Marinette continued, “I said that you mean a lot to me. You’re my friend and it...it hurts to see you hurting”.

 

Adrien was taken aback by how sincere she was. Eyebrows knitted and mouth scrunched, Marinette looked like she had fire in her eyes. Her expression was oddly reminiscent of his partner against crime.

 

“But really, if you ever need a shoulder to lean on or if you need to vent, I’m all ears.”

 

 _“I’m all yours too if you want me to be,”_ Marinette thought to herself.

 

Adrien couldn’t believe how lucky he was to have such amazing friends, especially a friend like Marinette. It made him happy to think about that but it also pained him even more because he wanted nothing more than to be able to spend as much time with them as possible.

 

Adrien sniffled and fought back the urge to cry in front of his friend. He shifted his position on his bed from sitting up against his headboard to rolling onto his stomach and propping his chin on his pillow as he put his phone against his headboard. Hopefully, the pressure of the pillow could be enough to keep the tears at bay.

 

Marinette could tell that Adrien was hurting, and suppressing his emotions just because he was talking to her wasn’t healthy. Softly she suggested, “you can cry if you want Adrien. It's ok. Everyone needs to cry every now and again and afterward, you’ll feel much better. I know I do.”

 

He really has been feeling miserable lately. Yeah, it sucked that he’s been seeing his friends less and has had a more rigid schedule than usual but what hurt the most was that right when it seemed like he and his dad had gotten closer, his dad decided to put even more distance between himself and Adrien. They had watched his mother’s movie together and it felt like he had a dad again. But that didn’t last long at all. His dad pulled away and put even more distance between them leaving Adrien feeling more alone and isolated than before. He missed his mom. He missed having a dad who cared even if he didn’t show it that well.

 

Adrien’s breath shuddered as he inhaled as he began to cry. Face down in his pillow he cried away his feelings of helplessness and loneliness. He didn’t call Marinette just so she could watch him cry but like she said, he really needed this.

 

* * *

 

While Adrien had his cathartic release, Marinette was overcome with guilt. ‘Oh no! I made Adrien cry!!! How could I be so cruel?!” Marinette thought as she dragged her hands over her face. Biting her nails, she grabbed her phone and quietly made her way from her sewing station up to her loft and into her bed. Sparing a glance to the little bed that she made for Tikki, Marinette checked to see if the little kwami was asleep or not. Marinette couldn’t seek the kwami’s advice while she was FaceTiming with Adrien but having her near was calming. Tikki was in fact fast asleep. Marinette sighed. She was just gonna have to navigate this new situation by herself.  Marinette nestled under her covers and set her phone against her kitty body pillow. A few minutes later, Adrien’s tears began to subside and his breathing became more regulated.

 

“Feeling better now?” Marinette asked. The whole time he was crying, Marinette wished that she could be with him in person and hold him. The thought made her face heat up but she really did wish that she could be there instead of on the other end of a phone.

 

With one last sniffle, Arien replied with a slightly raspy voice, “y-yeah”

 

“Hey, Adrien?” Marinette asked as she nervously bit her lip.

 

“Yes?”

 

“What do you get when you cross a lemon and a cat?” She asked as she looks away from him trying to hide her nervousness.

 

“Um, what?”

 

“A sour puss” Marinette had to admit that it was a pretty lame joke but she came up with on the spot so…

 

Adrien gave her a small smile as he chuckled softly.

 

“What do you call a cat that lives in an igloo?” Marinette asked with a smirk.

 

“What?”

 

“An eskimew” Marinette could honestly say that she was proud of herself for coming up with these jokes. It seemed like her kitty was rubbing off on her. Maybe that explained why she was only coming up with cat-related jokes.

 

At that, Adrien let out a louder laugh than before. “That was pretty cute.”

 

Marinette blushed and smiled to herself. She was happy that she could make Adrien smile.

 

“Can I tell a joke?” Adrien asked propping himself up on his elbows and he hugged his pillow.

 

“Sure”

 

“What’s a cat’s favorite way of keeping law & order?”

 

Marinette had a feeling that whatever Adrien was going to say, Chat would love it and eat it up.

 

“What?”

 

“Claw Enforcement”

 

Marinette was right. She grinned from ear to ear as she laughed thinking about how much of a field day Chat would have if he heard Ladybug say that joke.

 

“D-do you want to hear another one?” Marinette asked.

 

“I’d love to”

 

“Okay, I’ve got a good one.”

 

As Ladybug, Marinette pretended to be exasperated with her partner when he punned but she actually enjoyed them. She just didn’t tell him because he didn’t need another reason to have his ego fanned.

 

“How do cats end their fights?”

 

“How?”

 

“They hiss and make up,” Marinette said with a pleased smirk on her face as she mimicked a cat swiping their paw as she hissed and then made a kissy face. Who doesn’t like a good cheesy joke every once in a while? She wasn’t a stick in the mud.

 

Adrien seemed to really like that joke because he laughed so hard that he rolled out of bed. How that happened, Marinette had no clue. She was supposed to be the clumsy one. Adrien righted himself on the bed and thought to himself that he was in a much better mood than he was an hour ago.

 

Looking out his window, he noticed that the thunderstorm had blown itself out and was now a soothing sprinkle.

 

“I didn’t know that you were so well versed in the art of cat jokes, Marinette,” Adrien said with a relaxed expression. Gone was the storm that raged outside as well as within Adrien.

 

Marinette let out a small laugh “What can I say, I have a friend who likes to tell me cat jokes constantly and I guess they’ve rubbed off on me.”

 

Adrien wondered who this friend might be. He’d love to meet them and exchange notes.

* * *

 

They talked some more for another half hour. Marinette filled him in on the ongoings at school that he missed while he’s been gone. Max had brought Markov in again and had it play a game of basketball against Kim and the robot and boy had surprisingly tied, Alix debuted her graffiti art series at school in the main quad, and Rose and Juleka announced that Kitty Section would be performing for the upcoming open house. Adrien wished that he could have been there in person but it was nice to hear Marinette talk and fill him in. He told her about his latest modeling shoots and what his father’s new line was going to be like. At that, Marinette perked up and grabbed a nearby journal to take notes on what to expect. Adrien even mentioned that they would finally be debuting the bowler hat that Marinette designed and Marinette let out a sound of delight.

 

“Hey, Marinette?”

 

“Hmm?” Marinette looked up from her notebook to look at the blonde boy.

 

“Can we do this more often?”

 

“This? As in talk more?” Marinette asked as her heart skipping several beats.

 

“Well, that too. I like talking to you. I’m happy we’ve grown closer over the past few months. But I mean if I can’t make it to school or hang out with friends, that you’ll fill me in on what I missed?” Adrien asked with a sad smile.

 

Marinette really felt for this poor boy. How could his father be this overbearing to keep his only son basically a prisoner and keep him from things that brought him joy? She wished that she could do more but for now this would have to do.

 

“If that’s what you want, I’ll do my best” Marinette let him know with a reassuring smile.

 

“Hey, I can do you one better. I can FaceTime you while hanging out with friends or at school or something if you're not there if you’re not busy” Marinette suggested.

 

“That’s a great idea, Mari!!” Adrien exclaimed as he pumped his fists in the air. “You’re the best!”

 

Marinette gave him a smile as her stomach filled with butterflies.

 

“I’m happy I can help,” she says as she stifles a yawn. She glances at her clock on her nightstand and read the glowing numbers 1:40 AM.

 

Adrien noticed her yawn and also took a glance at the time.

 

“Woah, I didn’t realize how late it had gotten. It’s a good thing tomorrow is Sunday” he said as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes fighting back a yawn of his own.

 

“Thank you, Mari, for answering my call. I’m so lucky to have you as a friend” Adrien said as he gave her a heart-stopping smile. Marinette’s cheeks turned pink and she could feel them warm.

 

“You’re welcome, Adrien. I’m here for you anytime day or night.”

 

“I guess I’ll let you sleep now. Good night Marinette.”

 

“Good night, Adrien.”

 

They both stared at each other for another 20 seconds not wanting to be the first to end the call. Realizing that neither one was gonna do it, they both laughed. With another good night, Adrien reluctantly ended the call.  Adrien plugged in his phone to charge and snuggled into his blankets. Closing his eyes, he drifted off to sleep after a few minutes.

 

Clutching her phone to her chest, Marinette laid awake in bed for another half hour heart still hammering thinking about what she had just done. She talked on the phone and FaceTimed with Adrien ( _ADRIEN!!!)_  for almost two hours and barely stuttered.

 

“Alya’s gonna freak when she finds out,” Marinette thinks to herself.  The sound of rain taps out a rhythm against her skylight and Marinette finds herself slowly drifting off to sleep phone still clutched to her chest.

* * *

 

The next morning Adrien was awakened by Nathalie at 7 AM. Despite only getting 5 hours of sleep, Adrien felt completely rested. In fact, he couldn’t remember the last time he had felt this rested. Even though it may mean that Adrien missed out on something yet again, he looked forward to his FaceTime calls with Marinette.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Ngl, this was my first time writing Miraculous Ladybug fanfic and the first time I've written fanfic in YEARS. but after watching Anansi, I just had to get my ideas down! I hope you enjoyed reading and let me know what you think! Feedback is more than welcome :)
> 
> Edit: Wow! I wrote this exactly a month ago! I appreciated all the feedback I received and I'm sorry I didn't reply sooner. I struggle with anxiety and it's such a silly thing to delay replying to comments but...yeah. Anyways! Thanks again for all the kind words!


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